1923's Aminah Nieves Opened Up About the Show's Violence and Teonna's Future
While fans of Yellowstone and its spin-offs are certainly always eager for more from the storied Montana ranching family, the latest prequel, 1923, has offered viewers a side of the story rarely seen in classic westerns. During its first season, the show has not only followed the Duttons themselves, but has also traced the story of another character with Yellowstone ties—Teonna, a young Native woman and the ancestor of Yellowstone's Thomas Rainwater.
In the series, Teonna has suffered horrific abuses at the hands of the clergy who run a boarding school aimed at converting and supposedly "reforming" Indigenous peoples, a practice that was sadly common in the American west. While Teonna herself manages to fight back against her abusers, the trauma from that treatment that still echoes through the Native communities was almost enough to make Aminah Nieves, who portrays the character, avoid the role altogether.
"I read it and was emailing my manager like, ‘I don’t know man. I don’t know if I should do this. It’s just heavy and triggering,'" she told Deadline. "I did the audition the day it was due because I waited so long. I was scared. My mom was like, ‘Aminah, you have to do this, not just for you, it’s for us. It’s for our communities and for all indigenous peoples across the world.’"
While she did ultimately take the part, the role was far from an easy one. "It was really hard to move through, because you feel everything. I knew it wasn’t just going to be me feeling it. I knew that there were gonna be ancestors flowing through me. That’s exactly what happened when I got to set. I felt like sometimes, I wasn’t even in control of my body, you know? It felt like, ‘Aminah, someone else is here. Let them take over for a second.’" She added, "I was scared a lot. I wanted to make sure I was honoring every single human, every single family member, my grandparents, my aunties, my mom, my dad and then all of the communities. I’m so happy that I’m here and doing it and being a voice."
Though Teonna's ties to Yellowstone's Rainwater suggest she's likely to survive this week's season finale, when it comes to the show's recently announced season two, Nieves says she's still in the dark, but hopeful.
"I have faith that Teonna will make it to season two," she says. "We don’t know anything happening in season two at all. [Taylor Sheridan] hasn’t written anything yet."
You Might Also Like
